(Job 18 | Chapter XIII of Jessie Penn-Lewis’s *The Story of Job*)
“The light of the wicked shall be put out…” —Job 18:5 (KJV)
Bildad returns—and this time, he is sharper, louder, and less restrained.
He opens not with empathy, but offense:
“Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?” (v.3)
He believes Job has insulted their wisdom—and now he will respond not with counsel, but with a list of terrors reserved for the wicked.
The Unspoken Accusation
Bildad never says Job’s name.
But the implication is loud and clear.
“The steps of his strength shall be straitened…”
“His own counsel shall cast him down…”
“Terrors shall make him afraid on every side…”
Penn-Lewis observes:
“Bildad now pours judgment like a flood—assuming his own safety and Job’s secret guilt.”
The Cruelty of Assumed Righteousness
Bildad’s error is not in his doctrine—but in his application.
Yes, the wicked are often judged.
Yes, their lamp goes out.
But what Bildad cannot imagine is that a righteous man might also suffer deeply—for purposes known only to God.
“Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked…” (v.21)
Bildad ends with this stinging suggestion: This is the fate of “him that knoweth not God.”
Penn-Lewis’s Insight
“There is no humility in Bildad’s warnings. He speaks from a place of assumed purity—not brokenness.”
This is not ministry. It is spiritual cruelty.
Job doesn’t need to be reminded of hell.
He needs to be reminded of heaven.
Modern Echoes
Many today still speak like Bildad:
– Loud with scripture.
– Clear on doctrine.
– Blind to the heart.
They thunder about judgment without tears, and they mistake suffering for sin.
Overcomer’s Checkpoint
1. Do I assume suffering means guilt?
2. Have I ever spoken truth with a wrong spirit?
3. How can I avoid Bildad’s error and speak mercy with truth?
“Bildad thundered about judgment, but never wept over pain.” —Jessie Penn-Lewis